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The Electronic Payments Association announced
today that it is partnering with The Clearing House to bring the
Electronic Billing Information Delivery Service (EBIDS), an Automated
Clearing House (ACH) Network bill presentment and payment solution, to
market. EBIDS has been a NACHA pilot program since 2008, operated by the
Federal Reserve Banks.
EBIDS expands the capabilities of the ACH by
enabling businesses to leverage its efficient, reliable infrastructure
to deliver electronic bills to consumer online banking accounts.
Specifically, EBIDS extends the eBill distribution model by
incorporating a distinctive, centralized biller directory and providing: - Ubiquitous connections to financial institutions through the ACH Network
- Efficient standardization for electronic bill presentment via NACHA rules oversight
- Security features provided by financial institutions' online banking processes
"EBIDS is a unique offering that leverages the
strengths of the ACH Network -- ubiquity, efficiency, and the ability to
carry information in addition to payment," said Janet
O. Estep, NACHA's president and CEO. "As EBIDS transitions into
production, the partnership with The Clearing House will enable
financial institutions nationwide to offer electronic bill presentment
to their customers."
The goal of NACHA's EBIDS pilot program was to
demonstrate the ability of the ACH Network to support electronic billing
(e.g., enrollment, bill presentment, enrollment maintenance), as
well as bill payment. In the pilot, Verizon worked with J.P. Morgan to
deliver eBills to customers at Wells Fargo and Dollar Bank.
"Consumers are aggressively migrating to online
banking and financial management solutions," said Russ Waterhouse, executive vice president,
product development at The Clearing House. "As an ACH operator, we are
in a unique position to provide financial institutions and their
customers with a standardized, ubiquitous {tag electronic bill presentment
and payment solution}."
Studies show consumers are increasingly
migrating to online bill payment and presentment and specifically
seeking a consolidated electronic solution -- like EBIDS -- to access
their bills from a single location. According to a 2009 Javelin Strategy
& Research study, 70 percent of online households pay bills via the
Internet every month, while only 38 percent have viewed an eBill at a
bank or consolidator site, thus reiterating the growth opportunity that
exists for online bill presentment. Moreover, Javelin's 2010 Green
Billing Report finds that nearly half of consumers would be motivated to
switch to online billing if there was a single online site that
consolidated statements.
"The Federal Reserve Banks are encouraged by
the results of the EBIDS pilot program," said Jim
McKee, senior vice president, Federal Reserve Bank Retail
Payments Office. "As EBIDS transitions into a commercial service, we
hope to see widespread participation from billers and financial
institutions. We remain supportive of the EBIDS concept and will
continue to explore how best to integrate EBIDS with our network and
security infrastructure to ensure availability to all ACH network
participants."
Biller adoption of EBIDS will be an ongoing
area of emphasis as the technology transitions into full-scale
production.
"Reducing the volume of paper bills is a
strategic goal at Verizon," says Angeline DePauw,
director, remittance processing, Verizon. "We believe EBIDS will help
us achieve this goal while at the same time allowing us to expand our
customer reach and reduce expenses and customer service calls."
Recognizing the potential of EBIDS to address
market demands, several prominent banks have already committed to
participating. EBIDS commercial service will be available to these
institutions by early 2011.
"Consumers and businesses continue to look to
technology solutions to facilitate online bill payment," said Pat Thelen, executive director, J.P. Morgan
Treasury Services. "It's clear that EBIDS can play an important role in
helping financial institutions meet the evolving needs of their clients.
We have enjoyed working with The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Verizon during the pilot
project and look forward to seeing EBIDS deployed in the marketplace."
"The EBIDS pilot was a success in that it
demonstrated the efficiency and effectiveness of the platform," said Chris Huppert, a senior vice president in
Wholesale Internet and Treasury Solutions Group of Wells Fargo &
Company. "Now with the infrastructure that The Clearing House will
bring, EBIDS is poised to significantly expand its reach and deliver
benefits broadly to consumers, billers, and financial institutions."
"Between greater convenience for consumers and
greater efficiency for corporate billers, EBIDS will offer significant
benefits as billing and payment preferences migrate from paper to
electronic format," said Aileen Gleason,
product management executive at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "We look
forward to working with The Clearing House as this service evolves from a
pilot program to production."
For more information on EBIDS, visit http://www.nachaebids.org/. |
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